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Royal Rumble (2002)
Royal Rumble (2002) was the fifteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and was the final Royal Rumble produced under the WWF name. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which Triple H won, after last eliminating Kurt Angle. The other matches were Chris Jericho versus The Rock for the Undisputed WWF Championship, Ric Flair versus Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, Edge versus William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the team of Spike Dudley and Tazz versus the Dudley Boyz for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Trish Stratus versus Jazz for the WWF Women's Championship. Storylines The event featured six professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. The main feud was between Chris Jericho and The Rock for Jericho's Undisputed WWF Championship. The feud, which had begun in October 2001 while the two were members of Team WWF during the InVasion and traded the WCW Championship between them, continued at Vengeance, when Jericho defeated both The Rock and the reigning WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to unify the titles. On the following night's episode of Raw, Jericho successfully defended the Undisputed title over Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Steel cage match with help from Booker T. During the following two weeks, Jericho had successfully defended the title against the likes of Rob Van Dam, The Big Show, and Kurt Angle. The Rock earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble on the January 3 episode of SmackDown! by defeating Booker T. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Jericho and Test when The Rock made Jericho submit with the Sharpshooter. The secondary feud was between the two WWF Co-Owners Ric Flair and Vince McMahon. The feud all started on the November 19 episode of Raw, when Flair made his return to the WWF and revealed that he has bought Shane and Stephanie's stock to the WWF which now means that he and Vince were partners that own the company. On the December 27th episode of SmackDown!, McMahon came to the ring to share his new years resolutions when he was interrupted by Flair. Flair reminded Vince how he had hired him to come to the WWF when he was under contract with NWA back in 1988 until Flair left NWA and came to the WWF and how he had won the 1992 Royal Rumble match and became WWF Champion. Flair also brought up his main event match with "Macho Man" Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII. Flair then claimed that he looked through all the contracts one of which he pulled out that said "Vince McMahon Owner-Wrestler" which meant that Vince would wrestle at Royal Rumble. McMahon asked who got the balls to step into the ring with him and Flair punched Vince in the mouth and announced that the two of them would face each other at the Royal Rumble. The following week, Flair announced that the match would be a Street Fight which Vince agreed to. The next four weeks saw Flair and McMahon confronting each other in the build up to their match which includes McMahon mocking Flair by putting on a blonde wig and his blue robe and also assaulting him with a lead pipe. During an interview, McMahon says he loves destroying lives and promised to destroy Flair's life at Royal Rumble. On the January 7 episode of Raw, buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with Austin saying he wanted to enter. Later that night, Triple H made his return after missing nearly eight months with an injury and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match. He was interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's Royal Rumble event when he was the reigning WWF Champion. Triple H performed a Pedigree on Angle in retaliation. During a match between Austin and Angle on the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H all interfered. In the end, only Triple H remained standing, until The Undertaker stared him down from the top of the ramp. On the January 14 episode of Raw, Triple H stated that he wants to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. Austin came out, and they fought until The Undertaker came out, and hit Triple H with a chair, allowing Austin to hit the Stone Cold Stunner. The Undertaker then hit Austin with the chair. On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Austin and Triple H defeated Angle and Booker T. After the match, The Undertaker again came out, and stared them down. The feud between Edge and William Regal continued from Vengeance. On the December 10 episode of Raw, Edge mocked Regal, prompting Regal to nail him from behind with brass knuckles. On the December 13 episode of SmackDown!, William Regal and Kurt Angle faced Edge and Rikishi in a tag match. After the match, Edge hit Regal with a steel chair and an Edgecution onto the chair, breaking his nose, and causing him to bleed. On the January 7 episode of Raw, Regal interfered after Edge's victory over Lance Storm and hit him with brass knuckles. Regal challenged Edge to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble, and Edge accepted. On the January 14 episode of Raw, Edge and Rob Van Dam faced William Regal and Test, where Regal pinned Edge after using the brass knuckles. On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Regal defeated Rob Van Dam when he used brass knuckles behind the referee's back. Later on the night, Regal came out during Edge's match with Test but failed to interfere when Edge nailed him and referee Nick Patrick with a chair. Aftermath Austin won a number one contender's match against Kurt Angle on the January 28 episode of Raw to earn a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out. A feud between Austin and Chris Jericho started with Jericho interfering in Austin's match by attacking him with his title belt. The Undertaker continued his feud with Maven over the elimination during the Royal Rumble match, which grew to include The Rock after he mocked Undertaker for his quick elimination. The Undertaker's interference led to The Rock losing to Kurt Angle in the tournament to challenge for the Undisputed championship at No Way Out. On the February 4 episode of Raw, during a tag team match, The Undertaker grabbed a steel led pipe from his motorcycle and nailed The Rock in the head with it, allowing Chris Jericho to score the pinfall win. The Rock retaliated by hitting him with a chair and helping Maven win the WWF Hardcore Championship that Undertaker had won at Vengeance; however The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on The Rock onto the hood of a limousine in revenge. A match was made between the two at No Way Out. Kurt Angle started a feud with Triple H, unhappy about how he lost the Royal Rumble match, and attacked Triple H after a confrontation. During Triple H's match with Booker T, Angle interfered and attacked Triple H. Angle then had Vince McMahon make a match between the two at No Way Out for Triple H's title shot at WrestleMania X8. Triple H and his on-screen wife Stephanie McMahon were having problems, so she faked a pregnancy and demanded that they renew their wedding vows. Triple H discovered the truth, and ended their marriage. Stephanie McMahon then announced herself as the guest referee in the match at No Way Out. Results Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes. *After Undertaker was eliminated, he went back in the ring, eliminated Maven, and assaulted him throughout the arena. *This was Austin's 36th career elimination in the Royal Rumble, more than any other Rumble participant to date. Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Royal Rumble Category:Royal Rumble Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2002 Pay-Per-View Events